Payments for Ecosystem Services

Watershed payments for ecosystem services (PES) programs are rapidly growing around the world. These programs vary widely in their structure, but generally involve mechanisms to transfer resources from “downstream” users of water to “upstream” communities and land managers with the goal of maintaining or improving ecosystem services and human well-being. UHERO’s Leah Bremer worked on evaluation of the social, hydrological, and ecological outcomes of PES programs in Latin America for nearly a decade with the Natural Capital Project before starting with UHERO, and continues to collaborate with partners in Ecuador, Peru, and Colombia. A large portion of this work focuses on water funds or mechanisms where groups of watershed actors, including governments, NGOs, businesses, and others come together to create financial mechanisms to support watershed conservation and restoration efforts.

In Hawai’i UHERO researchers have also worked on the theory of PES and on valuation and spatial targeting of watershed conservation and restoration with links to emerging PES programs.